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Sep 3, 2016

PROGNOSIS * USA: A disaster for millions of long-haul truckers

* New Jersey - Driverless cars will kill the most jobs in select US states

... Driverless car technology is expected to reduce labor costs, fuel costs and accidents, but it will also be a complete disaster for the millions of Americans who work as long-haul truckers, bus drivers or cab drivers. Truck driving alone is the most common job across vast swathes of the United States, and they could all be unemployed within years... Almost 3 percent of all working American are drivers of some sort — more than 2 percent are truck drivers...And self-driving trucks have already been tested — the company Uber purchased to help develop its self-driving cars also plans to have thousands of trucks equipped with test technology by 2017. Those trucks will still have drivers behind the wheel, but like Uber's cars, it's hard to imagine they'll be there for long... Some states look like they'll be particularly hard-hit, but the problem looks even worse if you zoom in and look at the same data by congressional district. Some areas — like the Bronx and Queens in New York City, and Hoboken, New Jersey — rely on driving jobs for nearly 9 percent of their work forces... For men, who make up the majority of drivers, the situation is even more dire — in some places, 10 to 15 percent of the male workforce could find themselves newly unemployed... Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA - CNBC,com, by Mark Fahey - 1 Sept 2016